I am new to Sketchup and suspect that it is more than I need for what I want to do - however I am currently finding it to be very un-user friendly. So much of the training courses seems to assume a level of knowledge that i do not have.
I had wanted to use Sketchup be able to use geolocation sites with terrain features (that part I can do) and then add to-scale planting features - such as trees and hedges to this context in order to provide a realistic demo of the site proposals. the opportunity to model shadows etc was also very appealing.
I am disappointed that I cannot generate a 3d graphic of the geolocation - that would be much better.
I have been trying to input trees from the 3d warehouse - which is not at all user friendly: I cannot find a way of setting the dimension to these trees and if they have any degree of spec/detail, they seem to cause the programme to become sluggish and unresponsive.
Previosuly, i was just using a cut and paste from google maps into Word and then plonking tree crown icons down (birds-eye view style) at an approximate scale. This was primitive, but at least it was straightforward. Before I abandon Sketchup forever, can anyone help to me achieve what I want to do?
Basically I would suggest you spend some time actually educating yourself on how to use the tools sketchup provides. An obvious problem is the 3d Flora that you may well have overwhelmed you file with. Remove it and purge it.
Many things about your post, your disdain for the software, your ‘inability’ to correctly fill in your forum profile, leave many of us with little reason to offer assistance.
Running through the basics at the campus and the asking specific questions related to your issues might work better.
We are happily here to help, voluntarily, but there are limits.
When downloading assets from the 3D warehouse, take note of the file size. A lot of the trees and planting will be very detailed and it wont take many duplications before your model gets pretty heavy.
Have you looked into Layout yet? it might help create a bridge between what you currently do with word and what you want to do with SketchUp later. It would be a good way of placing 2d tree canopy diagrams on to map data.
you could also try using 2D face me assets for planting. This will keep you file sizes low and easy to manage but also provide some shadow and height details, again a hybrid solution until you get more familiar with Sketchup.